Global management, engineering and development consultancy Mott MacDonald has signed up to The 5% Club, an industry-led campaign focused on creating career opportunities for apprentices and graduates in the United Kingdom. Members of the club commit to ensuring that at least 5% of their UK workforces are on a formalised apprentice, sponsored student and/or graduate programme.
With the growth in infrastructure investment, the UK Government’s National Infrastructure Plan for Skills has identified the need for more than 250,000 construction and over 150,000 engineering construction workers by 2020, driving a need to recruit and train nearly 100,000 additional workers by the end of the decade. The 5% Club is focused on creating momentum behind the recruitment of apprentices and graduates who can help fill this gap in the workforce. Its members consist of large and small employers from a wide range of sectors who want to make a difference and support the UK’s ability to compete in increasingly tough global markets.
Mott MacDonald has a well-established graduate and apprentice scheme to train new recruits in the industry. 20% of its UK workforce is currently made up of apprentices, graduates or sponsored students. From as early as 16 years old, staff work on fee-earning projects for clients around the world, as well as in the UK. They also work alongside some of the consultancy’s most senior experts, learning fundamental workplace skills and gaining valuable experience of real-life situations.
Davide Stronati, Mott MacDonald’s global sustainability leader, said: “Progress, drive and the strive for excellence have long been key principles at Mott MacDonald. Providing young people with the opportunity to become the professionals of the future is both a business and social imperative.”
“We are proud to support the aims of The 5% Club and play our part in the development and training of young people. Their future careers and skills could go some way to solving the skills crisis facing the industry,” Davide added.